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Using Body-Cleansing Drinks

Body cleansing has taken center stage as an effective way to eliminate toxins and, more importantly, produce dramatic weight loss with the simplicity and ease of drinking a healthy concoction that may contain various fruits, vegetables, fibers or combinations of these ingredients. There are as many different types of cleansing drinks on the market as there are other types of dieting products. Like all popular fads, body cleansing drinks have both proponents and detractors.

  1. Proponents

    • Those who praise the process may have been influenced by Beyoncé Knowles, who needed to lose enough weight for a starring role in the film <i>Dreamgirls</i> in 2006. Lemonade and maple syrup laced with cayenne pepper helped the pop star shed 14.5 pounds in 10 days! The downside was that some of the weight lost was water rather than fat, and the actress gained some of it back. However, proponents insist that downing body-cleansing drinks is an excellent way to jump-start a diet, eliminate toxins and provide an incentive to make a transition to a balanced diet of healthy foods.

    Detractors

    • The naysayers argue that the average person avoids water, fruits, fiber and vegetables in favor of caffeine, alcohol, sugars and processed foods, the real culprits in the creation of toxins and fat. Therefore, any effect of body-cleansing drinks will be temporary at best, and possibly even dangerous for children, teenagers, pregnant women and those with certain chronic health problems. Also, it should be noted that the side effects of euphoria, fewer headaches, improved skin and less bloating that are often attributed to cleansing drinks are also associated with better hydration and the eating of less food, sometimes called the starvation effect, or the body's ability to deal with whatever nutrition it is fed.

    Deciders

    • So what is the best choice for a healthy person who is feeling sluggish and who is also hauling around extra unwanted pounds? It does make sense to give the colon a rest now and then---to allow weary muscles the chance to easily move waste through the intestines. A few days of cleansing drinks might just give the colon a much-needed vacation and eliminate toxins and bloat as well. Most likely no harm will be done, and a fresh start could be achieved.

      The dieter would need to be committed, after consuming cleansing drinks, to gradually introducing juices, raw vegetables and fresh fruits into the diet, and to further committing to eating healthy fresh and unprocessed foods. Common sense should be the driving force, and backslides now and then would, no doubt, leave the option of another round of cleansing drinks open.

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